VIEW FROM THE ENEMY: Benfica Fan On Their Best Players, Rooney and David Luiz,

September 14, 2011

Ahead of our Champions League game against Benfica, Éter from Ceu Encarnado has taken time to answer a few questions for us about tonight’s opponents.

Scott the Red: Last season you finished miles behind Porto. Are you confident you can catch them up this season?

Éter: Sure. If I wasn’t confident I wouldn’t even bother to watch the matches.

STR: You’ve sold on some important players recently. Who are Benfica’s most dangerous players now?

E: Cardozo is not very fast, but his left foot is deadly. Aimar is the maestro and can make impossible passes. Witsel has arrived this season but is already showing a lot of quality. Nolito has a bit of the famous Barça’s “tiki-taka” and has scored a lot of goals already. Luisão is very dangerous with corners.

STR: How highly do you rate Luiz and Ramires who left you for Chelsea?

E: When comparing both players, I think that I miss David Luiz more from an emotional point of view, and Ramires more from a practical one. Luiz had a very strong bond with the fans and, of course, he’s also a great player, with tremendous skill for a centre-back, which allows him to advance up the field and open holes in the opposition’s midfield. Few centre-backs in the world can do that. But he’s still very young and with a lot to learn, sometimes he loses the ball in stupid places.

Ramires is utterly irreplaceable and one of the reasons to Benfica’s poor performance last season. In a couple of seconds he’s stealing a ball near his own area, passing it to a team mate and when you watch again he’s in the other area to score. He’s an amazing player with superhuman lungs.

STR: Which United players would you most like at Benfica?

E: Rooney is the most obvious answer. But also Evra, Vidic, Anderson, Nani and Chicharito.

STR: How far do you realistically think Benfica can go in the Champions League this season?

E: I’m counting on reaching the next phase. And with luck in the draw, perhaps reach the quarter-finals.

49 Comments

Anderson agrees that Benfica have improved. Yesterday he said: "It is very special to play here as a former Porto player. Benfica are stronger now than when I played in Portugal for Porto. They are growing and are more experienced. The coach is very good so they will be difficult to beat."

It is always tough playing away in the Champions League, and Benfica have an excellent record in the competition. Any result is a good result for United, although most of our fans will be disappointed in anything less than a win.

We should have too much for them, and I'm hopeful of a very strong win, by 2 goals or more.

John Aston believes Best and Charlton gave him the platform to record one of his greatest performances. And Aston certainly did that as he tormented Benfica’s right back Adolfo.

“It was the club’s biggest night at the time because of Matt Busby’s dream but it also turned out to be my biggest evening,” Aston added. “I suppose all your best goals or unforgettable games are always those on the biggest occasions and they certainly didn’t get bigger than Wembley and a European Cup final. Having the famous names in the team that night, like George and Bobby, did benefit me because I knew all the spotlight was on them. I remember thinking to myself that of all of them I was probably the one who had nothing to lose. I just thought I would go out and give it a go.”

i don't hav much to say,is all about scoring more goals(rooney will score 3 goals while chicharito will also score 3 goals)i don't hav much to say,is all about scoring more goals(rooney will score 3 goals while chicharito will also score 3 goals)

This Rooney comparisons with pele is potentially digging a hole for him, he is NOT pele but he is a super talented player, sir alex is just using pele as an example of comparing Rooney's physical power, not achievements. The papers are gonna be sharpening their knife now, just hope Rooney doesn't get complacent and continue his form.

Strangely I won't disagree on Ramires a great deal. He's not the flashiest player out there, but he does his job in midfield very well. Not the Brazilian stereotype, but football has changed. I'd take him over Lucas, lol.

@King Eric: Not only is he a fucking clown who's positionally terrible, he's a dirty thug and a huge penalty risk for any team that he plays in. The fact that he played yesterday is a sure sign that he's not going to start on Sunday.

Pretty sure Utd will play a tight game tonight,look to score on the break.Wouldn't surprise me to see Berba start either,Rooney and Hernandez being rested for sunday,Park and Fletch getting a start in midfield,maybe Tony V also getting a run

Ramires is a good player but if you choose to get information from the press then you wont notice him. Last season they were marking him out as the teams weakness as they were in love with Luiz. As the interviewee said Luiz will improve so we shouldnt underestimate him. We should try and be respectful to our opponents as that will enable us to take them seriously. Without respect we wouldnt have scored the 8 against Arsenal and 5 against Bolton.

Totally agree on Ramires - He is a quality box to box midfielder. I think in the games against us he was one of the only Chelsea who emerged with any credit, and that with a red card in one of the games. I rate him pretty high, but it is very easy to overlook him. Sometimes that is the best compliment you can give to a player - he just go about his business efficiently, without drawing too much attention.

@Kanchelskis ... SAF could have sold Berbatov in the summer break if he had wanted. PSG weren't shy about making their interest known.

As for his European record, it depends on which stats you choose to look at. His career stat for Europe is 32 goals in 74 appearances. An average of 0.43 goals per game. That doesn't seem so bad. Roo has 25 goials in 63 appearances, or 0.40. With Spurs, The Berb scored 12 in 16. True, that would have been the Europa league, but in his first year with us, he scored 4 in 9. Since then, he has had another 13 appearances for us in Europe for no goals -- but I am sure that if anyone cares to check the details, you will find that in all (or nearly all) of those, he came on as a late sub.

Alot of lads find the PIG situation odd i think Berba is odder,what's the point of keeping him if he's only going to play Carling cup games,Berba is a quality striker and can play lone striker think he'll get the start tonight.Lets not forget when Berba got dropped he was scoring goals for fun anyone in the team i feel sorry for it's him,the lad played well last year.

@Wayne, yes, I am beginning to wonder too. The question is: what's his role? I had assumed he would be used to unlock those difficult mid-lower PL teams who like ti shut up shop against us. On the other hand, if he's being kept as a 4th-choice backup striker, or the Carling Cup, then I don't really see the point. I don't know why the club would want to keep him for that, and I don't know why he would want to hang around for it either. Call me an optimist, though, but I do have this gut feeling his United story isn't complete yet -- it's a ling hard season ahead of us, and I am sure he will make an important contribution at some point.

@Kanchelskis: Final against barca was a one-off. One leg, all to fight for. This is different - more tactical, and all that. I was even more convinced given SAF's comments about how Benfica play 3 in MF and the difficulty of countering that. Anyway, we will know in a few hrs - can't wait!

@Stateside: I think his role is initial CL home games, FA + League Cup, and fill in, if and when Rooney is injured. SAF is not a fool - as much as he rates Welbeck, he wont play an inexperienced front 2 of him and Chicharito against, say a Birmingham or Stoke.

Throughout the majority of our European run we went 4-4-2 last year. Barca wasnt a one off. Carrick and Giggs were the two central midfielders. Can see it being similar tonight with Ando rested for Sunday and Fletch getting some minutes in for said day as well.

We're 4 games into a very long, arduous season. Berbatov not playing much yet means nothing for him or the team. We're in tremendous form with the players we've used, why try to disrupt that? Berba will have his say in our season this year. If he is OK no longer being first choice, why should our fans worry?